When I Started Capturing the Academy Princesses, Things Turned into a Battlefield - V1 Chapter 21: Asking My Online Wife for Advice

Chapter 21: Asking My Online Wife for Advice

“Alright, let’s log in.”

After finishing dinner, I headed back to my room and sank into my beloved gaming chair.

With practiced hands, I booted up my PC and launched the game.

Utopia Online.

A multi-platform MMORPG that could be played on both PC and smartphone.

It had been a massive hit a few years ago, but by now, its popularity had started to fade.

I got hooked on it right around the time I graduated middle school.

The game’s biggest selling point was how much freedom it gave players.

It wasn’t just about fighting monsters—

You could build houses, grow crops, cook, fish, and even collect bugs.

There were tons of ways to enjoy it.

But that’s not all.

The game also had a marriage system.

Married players could access special skills exclusive to in-game couples, so a lot of people tied the knot just for the gameplay perks.

『Ah, it’s Darling!』

I had barely logged in when a message popped up in chat.

『Good evening, Non-Non.』

Yeah… I was married in-game.

My in-game wife’s name was Non-Non.

My character name? Valhalla.

Our story was nothing special.

I was solo grinding when I came across Non-Non, who was in serious trouble.

She was still a beginner back then—

Didn’t even know how to fight properly.

I helped her out, we got to know each other, and eventually, we decided to get married just to try out the couple skills.

『You’ve been busy lately, haven’t you? Finally got some free time?』

Ever since I started this whole “Princess mission,” I hadn’t been logging into the game much.

My motivation had tanked, and I just couldn’t bring myself to go hunting.

『Yo. Let’s go grind.』

『Whoa, someone’s fired up. Alright, I’ll be right there—wait for me.』

Not long after, Non-Non arrived.

Her avatar was a blonde elf—

A stunning beauty with an amazing figure, and her class was a healer.

She and I—me being a warrior—always went hunting together as a pair.

『Thanks for waiting, Darling. So, where are we heading today?』

『I wanna hit the castle.』

『Castle raid? You’re really motivated today. That’s one of the hardest spots for duo parties. We’ll need to prep properly. Oh, and I saw this awesome gear in one of the player shops. It’s enchanted, so it’s kinda pricey, but the defense stats were seriously good. …Not that I can afford it.』

『I’ll get it for you once I’ve got the money.』

『That’s why I love you. Like, really love you.』

Just like always, we chatted for a bit, made sure we were fully geared up, and headed off to hunt.

We spent a few hours grinding together while talking the whole time.

Playing for so long after such a long break was tiring—

But it really helped blow off the stress that had been piling up lately.

『Nice work today.』

『Yeah, we earned a ton. Good stuff.』

After we wrapped up the hunt, we returned home.

Our in-game home was a small cabin nestled deep in the woods.

It wasn’t anything fancy, but we had saved up and bought it together.

It was our place.

『Hunting’s done. Let’s chill and chat for a bit.』

『Sounds good. We still need to split the loot anyway.』

As we divided up the drops, we chatted about random stuff.

But actually—

I hadn’t logged in today just to enjoy the game.

I had a real reason.

Taking a deep breath, I gathered my courage and typed it out.

『Hey, Non-Non. I’ve got something I wanna talk to you about.』

『Hmm? What’s up?』

『So… I’ve gotta start winning over a girl in real life. I was hoping I could get your advice. Like… maybe some tips or something.』

That was my goal tonight.

I needed advice—on how to deal with the younger Hikawa sister.

After I sent the message, there was a pause.

『…Wait. What do you mean by “winning over”?』

『I mean… trying to make her fall for me.』

『YOU CHEATER!!』

Non-Non’s avatar suddenly stood up and started whacking me with her staff.

She was a healer, so it didn’t do any real damage—

But it totally caught me off guard.

Non-Non usually didn’t act like this.

『That’s totally cheating! You already have me, and now you wanna go after someone else?! What even is that?! Keep this up and I’m gonna purify you!!』

『W-Wait, calm down! I’m not undead, you can’t purify me!』

『Shut it!!』

I tried reasoning with her, but she wasn’t having it.

She kept smacking me for a while.

It didn’t hurt, since this was just a game—

But somehow, I could almost feel my avatar crying.

Eventually, after a bit of time passed, she finally started to cool down.

『Wait a sec, something’s off. You said you have to win her over, right? That’s a weird way to put it. Do you even like this girl, Darling?』

She hit me right where it hurt.

What would happen if I just told her the truth?

—That my little sister was blackmailing me into flirting with one of the beautiful girls at our school, and it didn’t even matter who. So now I was desperately looking for a plan.

“…”

Yeah, no.

Saying that out loud made it sound completely insane.

From any normal person’s perspective, this was seriously messed up.

The fact that it all started because of my ridiculous long donation messages?

Yeah, that would just make it worse.

If Non-Non ever found out… she’d definitely be disgusted.

Might even cut ties with me completely.

I really didn’t want that.

So—I decided to lie.

『You remember I mentioned having a little sister, right? So, I was talking with her the other day and, well… things escalated.』

『Go on. I want details.』

『She called me a loser for being unpopular with girls. So I snapped back—I didn’t wanna get disrespected by my own sister. And that led to me having to prove I can get a girl. She even picked the target—a lowerclassman.』

Not a bad made-up story, actually.

And technically… it wasn’t even a full lie.

The whole reason I was in this situation was because of my sister.

So in a way, it was true.

『That’s ridiculous… Why don’t you just say no?』

『That would feel like losing.』

『Idiot.』

With an exasperated sigh, Non-Non started smacking my avatar again.

『But why’d you come to me for advice?』

『Because I didn’t have anyone else.』

When I replied, Non-Non used a cheerful emote to show she was in a good mood.

『Oh yeah, that’s right. You did say you’re totally unpopular. So in the end, you had no choice but to come crying to Non-Non. Poor thing. I guess it can’t be helped—unpopular virgin boys like you don’t have anyone else to turn to.』

Gah.

Not wrong…

But still, she didn’t have to say it out loud.

Apparently, teasing me a bit had helped her cool off.

『Well, I guess I’ll help. I don’t like it, but since it’s my Darling asking, I’ll make an exception. I’ll give some advice to my totally hopeless husband, so listen up.』

『You’re really gonna give me advice?』

『Of course. We’re married, after all. But! You have to promise me one thing. You have to trust everything I say and do exactly what I tell you. If you do that, I guarantee it’ll work. But if you ignore me even once, you’re gonna fail. For sure. A total disaster. No second chances.』

Fail for sure, huh…

I had no clue how girls thought.

So honestly, it was probably best to just trust her advice completely.

There was a reason I turned to Non-Non for help this time.

First off, I couldn’t talk to anyone in real life about this.

No way I could go around saying,

“Hey, I need tips on how to approach the younger Hikawa sister.”

People would just stare at me like I was insane.

No one would help.

But Non-Non?

She was my online wife.

I didn’t even know where she lived.

That made it easier to talk about stuff.

Granted, I still wasn’t about to admit I was being blackmailed by my sister.

There was another reason, too.

She once told me a bit about her real life.

Non-Non said she was a girl in real life, with tons of dating experience.

Supposedly, she was a blonde bombshell gyaru with an amazing figure.

Still in high school.

She claimed there were always dozens of guys around her, and that she never had a shortage of options.

Apparently, she had so many friends that practically the whole school knew her.

She even said she was so constantly surrounded by people, it was exhausting.

Right now, since we were married in-game, she wasn’t dating anyone. Out of respect.

…Okay yeah, she was probably exaggerating a bit.

Still—there was no denying she had more romantic experience than I did.

Hell, my experience was literally zero.

There wasn’t a soul on this planet with less than me.

『Got it. I’ll trust you completely.』

『Excellent. Just think of it like boarding a sinking ship and leave it all to me.』

『Okay, now I’m slightly worried.』

『Doesn’t matter. You’re following orders anyway. Now listen closely—』

And so, I spent the next few minutes absorbing her advice.

Honestly, it sounded a little hard to believe.

But if a husband couldn’t trust his wife, then what was the point?

So I decided—I’d believe in her completely.

The next day, with my resolve firmly in place—

I marched straight into the first-year students’ classroom.